Behind 3.6m high fences workmen in balaclavas are making swift progress as a vast new animal research laboratory nears completion.
It is a year on Monday since 16-year-old Laurie Pycroft formed Pro Test, a group to speak out in favor of animal testing at Oxford University, and the pendulum appears to have swung away from those who oppose vivisection toward the right of scientists to carry out what they say is important research work.
The combined and costly efforts of the government, the police and the courts to contain the more vociferous animal-rights activists who oppose the laboratory have seen extremists put behind bars -- the latest, Donald Currie, received 12 years for arson attacks -- and forced some in the animal-rights movement to reconsider their tactics.
Where once Speak, the campaign against the laboratory, vowed to stop it being built, Mel Broughton, cofounder of the group, now admits it is likely to be completed.
"But our campaign won't end there," said Broughton, who distances Speak from any of the unlawful activities of other activists. "It has always been a David and Goliath battle. The lab is being built but whatever happens in the coming weeks and months the Speak campaign isn't going away."
"Support for the campaign is as strong as ever regardless of whether the lab is completed or not," he said.
Activists have departed from their sole commitment to direct action with the formation of a political wing, Speak Political. The party is vowing to stand candidates against leading members of parliament in the next election, including Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat for Oxford West and Abingdon.
Speak Political says it has not dropped its commitment to direct action -- and if necessary to breaking unjust laws -- but it believes it can campaign in the election to highlight the way the Labour government has reneged on a pre-1997 promise for a royal commission on the efficacy of animal testing.
Marches run by Pro Test have seen leading scientists like professor of neurosurgery Tipu Aziz speak out about their work for the first time.
Iain Sinclair, from Pro Test, said it had been a remarkable year. The third-year philosophy student formed Pro Test with Pycroft after becoming infuriated by the daily harassment and noise created by the animal-rights activists.
"So much has shifted in the last year," he said. "[British Prime Minister] Tony Blair has signed the people's petition in favor of animal research, animal researchers have spoken out for the first time and all three political parties have attended our marches."
"The position of the animal-rights activists struck me as ludicrous. Animal testing is not very nice, but the whole idea that using a few mice to get some better cancer drugs is a bad thing strikes me as totally shortsighted. We felt these views were not being aired," he said.
While the Pro Test followers demonstrate, supporters of Speak complain that their legitimate rights to protest have been curtailed by the courts and the police, with the backing of the government. An injunction taken out by Oxford University against the protesters outside the laboratory restricts them to one demonstration a week involving no more than 50 people, none of whom are allowed to use loud hailers or other sound enhancers.
An attempt by Oxford to restrict the number to 12 was thrown out by a judge. Protesters are also banned from demonstrating near the homes of anyone linked to the building or the university. The multimillion-dollar operation to police the demonstrations, and carry out surveillance and intelligence, is being fully funded by the Home Office. The government has also said it would pay for much of the private security around the building site.
Alex Marshall, deputy chief constable of Thames Valley police said policing had been fair to all sides: "The arrival of Pro Test brought two demonstrations at once. What is pleasing now is that those dual demonstrations have moved to a debate rather than a confrontation."
He said he was saddened to see there were still those willing to break the law to further their cause. Arson attacks and criminal damage continued, albeit on a lesser scale.
"We are determined to tackle extremists who harass or threaten those involved in vital life-saving scientific research. The government is committed to the Oxford ... facility being built," the Home Office said.
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